


Of All Flowers (A Rose is Best)

by Draco_sollicitus



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: ...I promise, Angst, Bachelor AU, Ben is the Bachelor, Everyone's happy in the end, F/M, Forbidden Love, Misunderstandings, Modern AU, Poe is a Set PA, Rey is a Contestant, Some Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2019-08-24 12:43:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16640339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draco_sollicitus/pseuds/Draco_sollicitus
Summary: As part of the Ben Solo Redemption Tour of 2019, his mother-manager Leia Organa secures him the role of "The Bachelor" on the famous reality TV show.Rey Smith somehow becomes a contestant on The Bachelor - and even more surprisingly, she's made it to Week Six. While Ben consistently demonstrates his favoritism for the lost girl from the desert, Rey finds herself falling in love...But not with the person she came here to fall in love with.Ben's a decent choice for The Bachelor after all: tall, handsome, wealthy, and a good date. So why is Rey so drawn to the one person she can't have, the sweet, snarky PA assigned to be her handler on set, Poe Dameron?





	1. Week Six

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the Star Wars Bachelor AU that I was screaming about to people over Discord and tumblr a few months ago. I had an unexpected free day (got snowed in, thanks, Avery), so I went ahead and wrote most of it.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!
> 
> Here are the Final Ten Contestants, with their ages and jobs, in case you, like me, primarily watch the first week of the Bachelor for the amazing job descriptions and names.
> 
> Jessica D., 26, Stay-at-home dog blogger  
> Rosa, 29, Pediatric Nurse  
> Rian, 28, Social Media Influencer  
> Jessica Q., 27, Third Grade Teacher (Villain)  
> Eva, 28, Computer Technician  
> Rey, 23, Mechanic  
> Kathlyn, 25, Nutrition Coach  
> Emilee, 27, Fitness Instructor  
> Emily, 27, Former Pro-Wrestler, Current Rodeo Clown  
> Ashlyn, 26, Elbow Model

_“Tonight, on The Bachelor:_

_Only ten women remain, vying for the heart of Ben. There will be tears, moonlight serenades, and meltdowns. Who will get a rose, and who will be sent home?_

_I’m Lando Calrissian, and this...is the Bachelor.”_

Rey looks up from where she’s been stacking slices of strawberry on top of each other when Ashlyn gets too close to Jessica, and they bump into each other hard enough to each spill champagne. Rey squints and tries to remember - is this Jessica Q., or Jessica D.?

The Jessica whose personal bubble has been threatened starts hurling obscenities at poor Ashlyn, so Rey snorts and goes back to her strawberry tower. Definitely Jessica Q.

She’s been stuck in this damn mansion for several weeks. She’s pretty sure it’s been at least three, but it’s hard to tell, considering they all surrendered their phones and any contact with the outside world upon walking on set. Her roommate, Rosa, is pretty chill at least, and has no interest in small talk after lights out, so she’s refrained from entirely losing her mind.

Speaking of Rosa, Rey catches her eye over her elaborate construction of fruit, and Rosa smirks at her, a small quirk of the lips that goes a long way in reminding Rey that she shouldn’t just grab a bucket of ice that previously housed a bottle of bubbly to throw on the Wicked Witch of the West Coast.

Lando’s scheduled to stop by around ten a.m., and it’s 9:30 right now; Rey finishes building her tower just so she can begin eating it, and Rosa wanders over to help her out. Eva comes too, and they chat idly about things Rey wouldn’t necessarily talk about, but certainly doesn’t loathe to the point that she loathes social media and acrylic nails and makeup and smiling for more than five minutes.

It’s a wonder that she ended up here at all, she muses to herself. But, she’d coasted here on her last tank of gas, utterly adrift after finally, finally escaping Unkar and his disgusting garage and the Arizona heat-baked shithole she grew up in, and given that she was promised a cash bonus if she made it this far, Rey was more than happy to compete.

It helped that apparently the producers had liked the audition tape she and Rose made on a whim, and it helped that her best friend was a fashion student who was able to make all her dresses for her. More than once, Rey’s snorted to herself over the thought of an online magazine trying to tweet about her peculiar outfits (that she likes very much, thank you) and where to buy them. At least it’ll help Rosie get noticed.

“What do you think the group date will be?” Rey’s stirred from her thoughts by Eva’s question.

“No clue. Maybe something sporty? We haven’t done something sporty in a while.” Rosa pops a solid chunk of melon into her mouth and chews thoughtfully.

“I don’t care, as long as it’s with Ben.” Eva sighs dramatically and props her chin in her hand; both of them look at Rey expectantly, and she blinks, remembering that the cameras are, in fact, always on.

“I miss him.” Rey’s go-to expression is pretty melancholic, so she hopes her RSF (Resting-Sad-Face) backs up her statement. Judging by the _Awwww, me too!_ ’s of Eva and Rosa, it works. “I bet it’s something to do with music.”

“Yeah?” Rosa steals Rey’s last strawberry, and she playfully slaps her hand as it drags away the fruit. “I guess we haven’t done anything like that yet.”

“And he’s _such_ a good musician.” Eva’s much better at this game than either Rosa or Rey - or maybe she’s a true believer. The jury’s still out, but Eva can keep a secret, isn’t catty, and makes a decent s’more, so Rey trusts her just fine.

“The Knights of Ren were my favorite band growing up,” Rey says in actual honesty. Between the promise of ‘cash bonus’ and hearing the actual name of her favorite lead singer, Rey doesn’t necessarily regret this venture. So far.

Ben Solo - known as Kylo Ren for the ten years he was a bad-boy rock star archetype - has been a complete and utter surprise. Rey expected a lot of things coming into this: but, she never expected to actually _like_ the guy. Sure, he made incredible music, and sure, he was good-looking, but she’d never been all that impressed with his spoiled rich boy antics. He’d always been rude in interviews, frequently destroyed property both on-stage and in his hotels, and had a well-known and chronicled drug problem.

But, the Knights of Ren had broken up three years ago (Rey remembers being distinctly disappointed, back at age twenty, when she passed a recycled OK Magazine that announced the break up, and she also remembers shaking her head and moving on because real life was disappointing enough without having to care about rock stars), and Kylo Ren had disappeared. He’d reemerged in the last year, going by Ben Solo once more, his hair cut to reveal his endearingly large ears, and he was documented as _moving back in with his mother._

If his mother were anyone but the famed Leia Organa, Rey’s pretty sure he wouldn’t have been offered The Bachelor. But, as it was, this marked the beginning of the Ben Solo Redemption Tour of 2019, and she had been invited along through some stroke of fate. And with a redeemed Ben Solo taking her on dates (only the one one-on-one, three weeks ago, where they’d both made the other laugh so hard ungainly snorts were made, and the head producer Armitage Hux had to cut and yell at them for being ‘unappealing to viewers’), Rey was thoroughly, pleasantly surprised to learn that Redeemed Ben Solo wasn’t as much a dick as she feared.

 _He’s definitely still a dick though_ , Rey thinks to herself as she settles into the couch near the front door and picks at her blunt nails, trying to appear like she’d been sitting there all morning. As the other contestants take their place around the room, going where directed by cameramen, some of the girls shaking their hair out and pantomiming conversation, Rey’s forcibly reminded of that scene in _Pride and Prejudice,_ which Finn, Rose’s long-term boyfriend, has made her watch at least five times, during Third Wheel Night (which is what Rey calls Rose and Finn’s date night that they insist on dragging her along to); namely, the scene where Mrs. Bennet screeches at her girls to prepare for Darcy and Bingley’s arrival, and they scoot to their places in a frenzy, only to appear as elegant images of grace and peacefulness when the gentlemen walk in.

Speaking of gentlemen:

A PA shouts, “Lando in-coming!” And the girls all straighten their hair out one more time as the roaming camera scoots in to cover the front door.

“Hello, ladies.” Lando walks in, as effortlessly charming as always, hands spread wide. He’s the host of The Bachelor, and has been since it premiered thirteen years ago. Rey likes him. She thinks. She’s definitely _supposed_ to like him. At the very least, he’s got great capes.

Today’s number is a royal purple that flares out behind him as he walks, and his suit is an incredible shade of gold that Rey knows would look ridiculous on anyone else that wasn’t Lando Calrissian.

“How are my favorite girls today?” Jessica Q. giggles when Lando saddles up next to her and winks.

There’s a chorus of “Good!” and more than a few questions of “How’s Ben?” Rey settles on smiling with a closed mouth, her legs crossed daintily. She’s the least dressed-up contestant in the living room as she’s wearing a comfortable tank top and jeans, and for the life of her, she can’t understand how Rosa’s able to look so put together each and every morning. What’s even more incredible is that she’s a Pediatric nurse and has told Rey more than one horror story about a vomiting toddler. The woman’s incredible, and Rey secretly thinks she should win the whole damn thing on merit alone.

“Ben’s doing just swell, thank you for asking. I’ll let him know you were worried.” Lando throws that vague comment into the crowd, and any one of the girls who asked feels like it’s directed at them, judging by their faces. Rey smiles and only slightly envies their ability to project so much caring. _How the hell did I get this far, again_?

“I have this morning’s invitation.” Lando waves the card around, and Jessica Q. snatches it out of his hand.

“Eva.” Rey’s friend shrieks with excitement and bounces on the middle cushion of the sofa they’re all piled onto. Rey leans over and rubs her shoulder encouragingly, and Eva clings to her hand, grinning happily. “How do you fondue?”

“Oh my God!” Eva jumps up and grabs the card, and Rosa slides down on the couch to sit next to Rey in her absence.

“Wonder what they’ll be doing,” Rey comments idly to her roommate.

“Can’t imagine.”

While Eva prepares for her one-on-one - the card said to be ready by noon - Rey and the other girls wait. They do a lot of waiting.

Privately, Rey thinks that might be part of the reason for her success on the show; she’s particularly good at waiting. She’s done it her whole life.

A few of the girls start a game of gin rummy, heavy on the gin (and rum), and Rey decides to go for a swim. She deliberately picks out the one piece suit she came with, and not the two-piece the producers want her to wear and changes quickly, grabbing a fluffy towel from the suite bathroom before jogging down the stairs. Rosa nods at her from her perch at the counter, three mimosas in already, and Rey waves before ducking out the back door towards the massive pool behind the mansion.

She gets six laps in before she’s rudely interrupted.

“Hey, Sunshine.” Rey rolls her eyes and keeps swimming, ignoring him for the time being. But, he isn’t someone to be ignored, and sure enough, a foam pool noodle whacks her on the head when she emerges to take her breath at the deep end.

“If I drown, I’m suing you,” Rey snaps, swatting at the noodle. Poe Dameron looks utterly unrepentant and grins his characteristically wide smile.

“Good morning to you, too.”

Rey turns and starts another lap, but when she returns to the deep end, Poe’s settled in at the side of the pool, his shoes and socks set neatly next to him. He’s wearing his trademark leather jacket despite the slightly warmer temperature of the day, and a tan shirt and green chinos. Rey has to admit, he looks nice. She also has to admit she kind of wants that outfit.

“Why’re you here, Dameron?” Rey rests her forearms on the side of the pool and sets her cheek on top of them. “Am I in trouble?”

“Can’t a guy come say hello to his favorite contestant?”

“I’m your _assigned_ contestant.” Rey smirks when he shrugs at her observation. “If I wasn’t your favorite, I’d be insulted.”

“Pretty sure you’re everyone’s favorite.” Poe rubs his jaw. “Except Hux.”

“Fuck Hux.” They exchange conspiratorial grins, and a warmth Rey isn’t familiar with settles into her stomach. She figures it’s a cramp from swimming after eating half a pound of fruit and ignores it. Willfully. “Really though, what brings you out here to check in with the scavenger of the mansion?”

“I wish you’d stop calling yourself that.” Poe’s voice is soft, earnest, and hurts a little too much to let settle into her skin. He must notice the way she squirms from it because he changes tracks, flipping to his Professional “Best Set-PA on _The Bachelor_ ” voice. “Emily said you had a tough time last night.”

“Emily?” Rey smoothes her wet hair back on her head and pushes off from the wall, beginning to tread the water.

“Emily with a y, not two ee’s.”

“There’s more than one Emily?” Rey tilts her head in wonderment. “I was barely aware of the one.”

Poe rolls his eyes at her and reaches down to splash water towards her, causing Rey to shriek and duck under the surface. She comes back up a few seconds later, and Poe’s got his face tilted back to the sun. “Really though.” His bare feet are in the water still, and he’s got his chinos rolled up mid-calf, and Rey doesn’t know why she finds that so oddly cute. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. There was an altercation, but the cameras weren’t there.”

“You sure about that?” Poe’s face turns towards her once again, and he sets his elbows on his knees. A frown creases his handsome face.

_Handsome? Where did that come from?_

“Uh, yeah.” Rey shakes some water out of her ear. “And even if they were rolling, I didn’t say anything out of the line. Jessica Q. and Rian were picking on Kathlyn, so I stood up for her. Rosa and Eva backed me.”

“Okay.” Poe doesn’t look entirely convinced, and Rey remembers that if she gets booted off the show, he’ll be left hanging on set, forced to perform less desirable jobs (not that she thinks he’s got the best job as it is right now - for all intents and purposes, Poe’s her handler, and he has to make sure she’s camera ready for dates, acting just enough for the camera to like her, but not acting so much that she causes viewership fatigue and burns out). “You excited for that group date, later?”

Rey casts a brief look around the pool, but most of the cameras seem to be concentrated in the mansion right now; they must have gotten a shot of her getting in the pool (a thought she tries not to be too squicked out over) and maybe some laps before deciding she was too boring to follow. Poe’s actually asking out of curiosity.

“Will I be on the group date, later?” Rey bats her eyelashes at him, pretending to play coy, and Poe smiles widely and looks down at his lap. “C’mon,” she wheedles.

“Maybe.” Poe licks his bottom lip, and Rey doesn’t bother to hide the fact that she follows the motion with her eyes; Poe really is pretty, objectively. “I think you’ll be very happy when you find out.” With a broad wink it becomes terribly apparently that he’s obviously much more well-versed in faux-flirting than she is; Rey actually blushes.

Poe’s smile halts slightly, but it also folds into something more real, and he looks down again, kicking his feet slowly in the water, not displacing enough to be obnoxious. “Are you?” He asks suddenly, and Rey’s caught off-guard by his soft voice.

“Am I what?”

“Happy.” Poe frowns slightly and looks up.

Rey considers this. “I’m not any … less happy than I’d be if I weren’t here.” She smiles at him. “The people aren’t half-bad.” It earns her another ducked head and a smile, and she can’t for the life of her figure out why that feels like a victory. “Are you? Happy?”

He freezes, and Rey almost regrets the question, so she hastens to explain herself.

“It’s just… you told me you went to U Chicago to study broadcasting, and sometimes...I don’t know, you’re definitely smarter than Hux.” She swims back over to the side, tired of treading for now, and resumes her old position of forearms on the lip of the pool. “You should be running this shit, not handling the worst contestant The Bachelor’s ever seen.”

“I am happy.” Poe’s eyes flicker with something at her epithet for herself, but he doesn’t comment on it. “I’m just paying my dues.”

“Mhm.” Rey rests her chin on her forearms and glares at the fake grove of trees that ring the area around the pool. “As someone who’s done nothing but pay dues her entire life, it isn’t always worth it. You… you’re too good for this.”

Poe laughs softly, and Rey doesn’t look over at him, too busy frowning at a clump of flowers. “What?”

“Out of the two of us, Sunshine, you’re the one who’s too good for this.”

Someone in the mansion shouts for “Dameron!” and Poe stands up reluctantly, gathering his socks and shoes.

“I’ll see you tomorrow before the group date.” He winks at her over his shoulder. “Maybe.”

“Maybe.” Rey repeats it softly to herself after smiling at him. She resumes her study of the grounds, and wonders how it is that, even though she’s clutching the side of the pool, she suddenly feels like she’s sinking.

**

“Today’s one-on-one should be a breeze. It’s a girl you definitely like.” Hux is sitting with his typically perfect posture, and Ben snorts at him, idly flipping through his phone.

“Is it Rey?”

“Well, no, but-”

“I’m pretty sure I told you she was the only one I could even halfway stand, so if isn’t Rey, I don’t know what you mean by ‘definitely like.’”

“It’s Eva.” Hux glares at him when he finally looks up, and Ben smirks in response, cocking an eyebrow. “Are you saying you don’t know who - Jesus Christ man, it’s Week _Six_ _._ ”

Hux produces a photo of Eva on his tablet (and Ben actually does recognize her, come to think of it, and he realizes he definitely did refer to her as pretty at least once), and Ben huffs and looks out the window. Sourly, Hux adds, “You’ll see Rey on the group date _tomorrow._ ”

“Good.” Ben does take the tablet from Hux at that and scrolls through the barebones profile on Eva. “Ugh. She likes the _Minions_ movies.”

“Lots of people do.” Hux scowls at him, and Ben hums noncommittally. “Her favorite thing to do on vacation is ski. You have that in common.”

“That’s my father who likes to ski.” Ben rolls his eyes and shoves the tablet back at Hux. “I’d rather keep my limbs intact that go careening down a sheet of ice with nothing but a pair of matchsticks keeping me from death.”

“Don’t blame skiing for you being a freakish Big Bird.” Hux sniffs and slips the tablet back into his satch. “I’m sure this will go very well.”

“Oh yeah, definitely.”

***

**

Around 9:30 p.m. the door opens, and a PA grabs Eva’s luggage. Rey stares in horror with Rosa, while Jessica cackles and clinks glasses with a girl sitting next to her. Rey’s hands morph into fists, but Rosa grabs her arm and shakes her head once, as a warning.

Later, in a burst of honesty, Rey sits in for an interview and admits, “If Eva can be sent home, I’m not sure what hope the rest of us have.” Poe frowns at her from behind the cameraman, but Rey shrugs and walks past him, heading straight for bed, and not bothering with the nightly champagne and gab fest. Rosa skips it too, and they spend some time in quiet reflection in their room, grieving over the sudden removal of their friend.

***

“ _Tell him something real_.”

Poe hisses it to her as the group trails into the large party room, post-Karaoke. It was one of their more fun group dates, and Rey’s well aware that she had rocked it (pardon the pun). She had been selected to sing a duet with Ben, using a song from his second solo album that he’d seemed genuinely pleased to realize she knew all the words without looking.

“What?” Rey hisses back, his hand firm on her upper arm, stopping her from walking in after the other girls.

“Get him alone.” Poe looks over his shoulder. “I know it’s not really your thing, but you gotta reach out to him. Open up. Tell him something _real._ He needs to know the real you.”

Rey flushes, but Poe disappears before she can demand to know if he’s referring to the information she reluctantly put on her profile as part of her application, if he’s referring to the doubtlessly sad results of her psych eval that was a mandatory requirement to join the show (she hopes that no one but the doctor got to see those results, but she’s aware that’s probably not how it went down).

She settles in next to Rosa, who already got some one-on-one time with Ben at karaoke. She’s completely tone deaf and had been entirely mortified when she was forced to croak her way through Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Ben had sensed her distress and pulled her aside himself to comfort her. _Lucky girl,_ Rey thinks mutinously. _Now she doesn’t have to elbow her way to getting his attention for five seconds._

Her chance at talking to Ben alone comes about an hour into the evening. They hang out as a group at first, and then Ben wanders away with Kathlyn, who no doubt tells him what a nightmare Jessica Q. is (not that it’ll make any difference - Poe had already warned Rey that every show “needs a villain,” and Jessica’s pretty much a guarantee until hometowns).

When he comes back though, he enters through the door that Rey’s already standing near, her back leaning against the wall as she surveys the women getting suitably shitfaced.

“Can we talk?” He asks, smiling down at her. Rey blinks in surprise and nods, already standing up straight.

“Uh, yeah. I mean - yes! I was hoping to talk to you.” She pastes what she hopes is a believable smile onto her face and follows him through the doors.

“Do you need anything to drink?” Ben gestures at the massive display of wine in the corner, and Rey shakes her head.

“I actually don’t drink. Ever.” She frowns but doesn’t elaborate, which Ben seems to accept.

“Me either. Although for probably very obvious reasons.” He grins self-deprecatingly, and they settle onto the small loveseat together. Not for the first time, Rey realizes how _huge_ he is. She’s definitely not anywhere close to short, but she is very thin; she’s certain Ben’s hands could wrap around the entirety of her waist.

“Did you have fun tonight?” His voice is gentle and almost hypnotic, and Rey smiles at him authentically.

“Yeah, I did. I really liked singing with you.”

“Me too.” Ben looks slightly bashful. “I mean. Singing with you. I liked singing with you, too.”

“Maybe we should start a band,” Rey teases, and Ben pretends to ponder this.

“Definitely.” They grin at each other, not for the first time, and Rey can almost ignore the camera and its operator in the corner of the room. “You sing a lot of karaoke? You were a total pro up there tonight.”

“Well, uh…” Rey trails off and rubs her neck. “I never really did karaoke officially, but I did a lot of singing to...to keep myself awake.”

“Like, while you were studying?” Ben grins. “Ever sing Knights of Ren covers?”

“All the time, actually.” Rey laughs brightly, and Ben’s smile widens. “But no, not studying. I didn’t go to college.”

“Oh, sorry, I just assumed…” Ben waves a large hand helplessly, and Rey grabs it and squeezes it on some weird instinct.

“That’s okay.” Now their fingers are threaded, and she takes a deep breath, part of her muttering _Is this real enough, Dameron?_ “I couldn’t afford college. I could barely afford food half the time. I lived in my car up until six weeks ago.”

“What?” It jabs into her like a lance, the open shock in Ben’s voice.

Rey tries to look at him, but she lasts three seconds before she has to look away, eyes burning. “I got out of a bad situation, and...it was sort of my only option.” Another peek at Ben surprises her: it’s not pity on his face. It’s anger. And she’s fairly certain it’s on her behalf. “So yeah, I sang a lot while driving, and I had all your old CDs from when I was a teenager, and...I don’t know, I watched a lot of your interviews, and it felt like we were both going through a bad time at the same time.”

Ben’s hand tightens around hers, and she makes herself look up for this part. She wonders how much of this they’ll show, which parts they’ll edit to make it look romantic and not pathetic. But she’s opened up now, and Ben’s face is patient and kind in response, and it might just be an act, but she does want to say it.

“I felt like...like we had this bond, or something. That probably sounds stupid. But your music, it...it made me feel like I had a friend with me in the car, and we were singing duets.” She wipes a tear that’s dropped from her eye. “When they told me _you_ were the Bachelor, I was actually pretty excited. Felt like…”

“Fate.” It’s the only real ending to her sentence, but instinctively Rey knows that’ll make the final cut look better, the fact that he ended her sentence for her. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”

She’s heard that line on the show before, but in the moment, it sounds genuine for once. With Ben’s warm, brown eyes squinted up as he smiles kindly at her, Rey manages to smile back.

“You’re very brave, little Rey.” It feels oddly like a term of endearment that Finn might use on her, but Rey accepts the hug from Ben all the same. When they pull away, his eyes linger on her lips for a moment, and Rey’s breath catches, realizing that _yeah,_ he’s about to kiss her, and _yeah,_ she has to be okay with that if she wants to stick around. It makes her distinctly uncomfortable, and maybe Ben senses that because he pulls away a fraction, probably unnoticeable by the camera.

Before anything real can happen to label Rey as ‘frigid’ or worse on the news circuit, Jessica Q. stumbles in. “Oh, sorry, can I just … borrow him, real quick?”

She smirks in victory when Ben pulls away reluctantly from Rey (she doesn’t imagine the “ _help me,_ ” muttered under his breath, and she squeezes his hand one last time in response before letting go) and stands from the couch.

“Of course.”

Jessica’s still smirking at Rey over her shoulder when she leads Ben away, already slipping into a fake, bubbly persona that Rey would be irritated with if she didn’t feel so oddly empty. She pours her heart out to a guy, forgetting that she was on a date with him and five other women. God. _What was wrong with her_?

She stands from the couch and wraps her arms around her middle, wishing that she was wearing more than this flimsy blue wrap dress, and somehow she walks to the front room and past the girls gathered on the sofa. Rey stands, shivering, out in front of the rented winery, and when the door opens, spilling soft yellow light over her body, her shadow stretched out in front of her like a somber mirror. She doesn’t need to look to know who it is; they come behind her shoulder and stand quietly, and the smell of leather and cologne is undeniable.

“You happy?” Rey wipes her eyes angrily. “Was that _real_ enough?”

“I didn’t know…” Poe trails off, and thank God he does, or Rey would have turned around and punched his lights out. “Honestly. I had...I had _no idea._ ”

“No, but Hux did.” Rey wants to scream, rip her hair out, but that would just attract the cameras. Instead, she resigns herself to shattering into pieces as quietly as possible, her nerves frayed and heart splintering from the agony of ripping herself open for the stupid camera. _And for what?_ “It was in my application, I never tried to hide it. I’m surprised I made it this far without it coming up.” She tosses her hair out and spins to look at Poe, and he looks strange, his face half-cast in light, half in shadow. “Let me guess, he promised you more money if you could get me to open up?”

Poe shifts uncomfortably, and Rey almost snarls in anger. “Not exactly.” Rey huffs, but Poe shakes his head imploringly. “Please, no - I just - I worried they were pushing Ben to get rid of you, and I wanted you to stick around. That’s all. Really.”

He looks earnest, and Rey finds herself deflating, somewhat. It’s not _really_ his fault that she spilled her guts so embarrassingly. It’s the damn show, and the isolation, and her own desperate need to feel a sense of belonging. And if this had been _normal,_ if she’d been on a real fifth date with a guy, he probably would have kissed her cheek and held her for a while, until that needy little voice inside of her always begging for a touch of affection was finally quieted. She can’t blame Poe for her own mistake.

“Sorry.” She dashes her eyes once more. “Sorry, it’s not your fault.”

“It’s no one’s fault.” Rey shivers, and Poe notices; he immediately shrugs off his leather jacket and wraps it around her shoulders, drawing it tight in front of her body. Rey holds it to her, settling her chin down into the collar, trying very hard to not breathe too deeply, no matter how nice it smells.

“But now you’ll be cold,” she protests.

“Nonsense.” Poe stretches his arms out dramatically and grins at her. “I went to high school in Colorado, and college outside Chicago. This is _nothing._ ”

“Ridiculous.” Rey snuggles in deeper to the coat, still feeling a little lost, but slightly more anchored now.

“You need a hug, Sunshine?” Poe holds his arms out, his head cocked to the side as he smiles charmingly, and Rey nods bashfully, walking forward at the same time he does. She nestles her head on his shoulder and listens to the steady thrum of his heartbeat under her ear, and basks in the warmth of his arms around her, trying not to think about the springtime, when her confession will air, or the rose ceremony tomorrow where this might all end and her painful speech will have been for nothing.

They’re so wrapped up in their embrace, neither one notices the red-haired man glowering at them from the stairs of the winery.

***

It turns out that Rey doesn’t have to wait until the rose ceremony to learn her fate; when the group is settled back in the main room of the winery, Ben stands with the small red rose in his hand and smiles at all of them.

He looks particularly good tonight, in a well-fitting all black suit with just a hint of red at the lapels. “Ladies, thank you so much for a very musical evening.”

Rosa’s next to Rey, and for whatever reason, she keeps nudging her. Rey looks over, eyebrows raised, but Rosa’s staring steadily at Ben. Sure enough, her elbow comes up and slams meaningfully into Rey’s side. “ _What_?” Rey whispers to her, but Rosa’s chin just jabs in Ben’s direction.

“I can only give one rose away tonight, but I feel like this person...well, they’re starting to become very special to me. It’s hard on this show to develop a bond, I know, and thank you to all of you ladies for how wonderful you’ve been, and how patient. But, this person...well...let’s just say, her song and her story captured my heart.” Ben holds the rose up, and then looks right at Rey, who feels herself freeze in surprise. “Rey, would you accept this rose?”

Rosa’s elbow digging into her side is the only thing that inspires Rey to stand up, and she stumbles over to Ben, nodding quickly.

“Yes! Yes, yes, definitely.” She takes the rose, and Ben wraps her up in a tight hug, and Rey lets her eyes drift shut, glad that he doesn’t hate her or judge her after he learned part of her story. Now that the floodgates are open, she’s sure Hux will make Ben or Poe dig deeper into the rest of her childhood, but until that moment, Rey can accept that she’s safe for another few days, that she has a guaranteed bed and guaranteed meals.

When she steps away from Ben, Rosa’s giving her a big thumbs up, a real smile on her face. Kathlyn and Ashlyn both look happy for her (Jessica and Rian look like they ate three lemons apiece), but it’s Poe’s face, on the corner of the set, that catches her attention the most.

He looks upset, his headpiece dangling in front of his mouth, his clipboard clutched in his hand. Rey gives him a strange look before she has to grab a flute of champagne and pretend to participate in the toast, but by the time she looks back at where he was standing, Poe’s gone, and Rey’s left with a strange pit in her stomach.

As they head out to the limo after they finish filming the toast, Ben holds the door open for them. Rey gets in last, and he smiles at her as she steps into the waiting car.

“Have a good night,” he tells the six women in the limo, but he looks at Rey when he says it. The door shuts, and the limo pulls away from the curb, and Rey has to endure the squeals from her friends (or at the very least, allies), and jealous glares from the other two for the rest of the ride back to the mansion.

And it’s odd, really: she should be thrilled that she got so much attention from Ben, and part of her is definitely flattered, and definitely interested in it. But it’s a different pair of brown eyes that she thinks of that night when she’s tossing and turning in her bed, and a different voice telling her goodnight that finally gets her to close her eyes and fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading xox
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	2. Week Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seven remain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jessica D., 26, Stay-at-home dog blogger  
> Rosa, 29, Pediatric Nurse  
> Rian, 28, Social Media Influencer  
> Jessica Q., 27, Third Grade Teacher (Villain)  
> Rey, 23, Mechanic  
> Kathlyn, 25, Nutrition Coach  
> Emily, 27, Former Pro-Wrestler, Current Rodeo Clown
> 
>  
> 
> **= POV change  
> *** = time skip

_ “I lived in my car up until six weeks ago. _ ” 

Rey can’t stop looking at her hands, and Poe can’t stop looking at Rey. On screen, Ben Solo looks as horrified as Poe feels, and with just as much anger mixed in. 

_ “I got out of a … bad situation, _ ” the tears don’t stop coming, and Poe’s chest tightens unbearably as he watches on the monitors, “ _ and...it was sort of my only option. _ ”

He rips the headset out of his ear, unable to listen in for another second -- they’ll make him watch it ad nauseum in post-pro, he knows that -- and glares at Hux.

“Did you know?” He hisses at the taller man, and the producer looks down at him with a haughty sniff.

“It’s in her file,” Hux says dismissively, eyes already going back to the monitor. His thin lip lifts. “Dear God. He’s actually eating this shit up.”

“Shit?” Poe has half a mind to sacrifice the little momentum he’s been able to build the last few years (unlike Hux, he doesn’t have a rich daddy who’s involved in the business to get him a swanky, unearned position), and smack him in the mouth until that sneer goes away. “She’s been through hell, apparently, and you’ll probably have no problem putting it in the episode.”

“It’s good drama, at least. A skinny little nothing from nowhere; at least she can bring the angst.” Hux raps his long fingers on the monitor, squinting in and then hisses under his breath. “Kiss incoming -- Camera 3, zoom in.”

Ben Solo’s hulking over Rey in the shot, and Poe’s chest tightens again, for a probably less than altruistic reason this time. 

That’s  _ Rey  _ that Ben Solo is about to kiss, Rey Smith, the contestant he met six weeks ago, the one everyone was convinced would go home in the first or second rose ceremony; he’d been given her as an afterthought, with a girl named Amanda (Or  _ Mandee _ ) as his real charge, but Mandee had fallen through after pissing off Ben, and Rey had stayed. Ben’s going to kiss her, and she’s clearly his top choice, and Poe should be celebrating because he gets a big fucking cash bonus if his contestant wins the whole thing.

_ But it’s Rey.  _

Rey Smith, whose huge eyes fill with tears when the other girls in the house play videos with dogs in them; Rey Smith, who can outeat even the beefiest teamsters on set; Rey Smith, who has never taken a drink since she walked on set; Rey Smith, whose smile is brighter than the sun and therefore earned an apt nickname; Rey Smith, who Poe’s more than a little hopelessly gone for.

Because he had to go and fucking fall for the girl he has to watch fall in love with someone else every day of his life. 

On screen, one of the other girls -- Jessica Q., bless her, and it’s the first time he’s ever had that thought - stumbles into the room and stops Ben from kissing Rey, and Poe can breathe easy for a few seconds.

That is, until Hux looks away with a scoff and squints at him. It’s a mean look, and Poe tries to corral his expression into something less  _ obvious,  _ and then he turns with a shrug and heads towards the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Hux calls at his back.

“My girl’s in the wind,” Poe points out. “I’m going to bring her back inside so she’s ready for later.”

And he does, but after talking to her, and comforting her, and wrapping his arms around her because he’s a masochist and the smell Rey’s shampoo lingers in his nose long after he lets her go; it’s hard not to whisper to her how special she is, how awful it is to see her cry, how badly he wants to walk her to his car after this and open the door for her and just fucking drive until they see the sunrise in the rearview mirror, but she’s got a contract, and he’s got a job to do, and all too soon she’s heading off to wait for Ben to give away the group date rose.

Before that happens, though, Hux pulls him aside and clears his throat.

“I’m telling all the P.A.s,” he says Poe’s title with an extra little sneer, “The girl who gets the date rose tonight is the one Ben is already talking about proposing to - I had to talk him down from doing just that a few minutes ago. He doesn’t even want to wait for the end of the season.”

“That’s...unusual,” Poe mutters, his heart sinking.

He tries to tell himself that he’s wrong, that it’s not what he thinks, but not even ten minutes later, Ben’s handing Rey the group date rose, and he’s wrapping her up in a hug with his stupid long arms, and he has to leave the room before he vomits or kicks a camera over.

Poe stands outside the rented mansion and tilts his head back to watch the sky overhead, and he’s pulled backwards in time, to Week Three --

Rey had gotten food poisoning (and she hadn’t been the only victim -- the mansion had smelled terrible that night), and he’d sat with her until two a.m., rubbing her back and feeding her crackers and water when she was able to start re-hydrating. She’d looked at him, half-awake and in agony, and smiled shakily. He’d smiled back and whispered,  _ what?  _ And she’d said something back to him that’s haunted him to this day --

_ “No one’s ever been kind to me the way you are. _ ” Her eyes had closed, and she’d rested her cheek on the toilet seat, her cheeks flushed. “ _...I guess it’s your job to be, but still. You’re too nice to me, Dameron. _ ”

In all honesty, it had been easy to be kind to Rey from the start; she isn’t spoiled (and now he knows why), she isn’t loud, and she isn’t rude to him because she assumes he’s an underpaid intern (it takes time, talent, and skill to have his job, after all, but some of the contestants don’t understand that). He’d assumed she’d be cut at the very next date, a combination of her lowered spirits from the food poisoning, and the already stacked odds against her, but she’d surprised them all, and apparently, won over Ben with very little effort on her part.

He can’t quite remember now, but he thinks he’d whispered back, “ _ I’m not as nice as I could be, _ ” but his response had only made her smile, and if he had to pinpoint the moment where he’d started falling for her, it would have been there, at the crappy toilet on the third floor of the Bachelor Mansion, not a camera in sight because  _ no one  _ wanted to see that, there where Rey let slip that she thought he was kind, a word Poe hadn’t applied to himself in years.

There’s nobody like Rey, he knows. 

And he can’t blame Ben Solo for being smart enough to see it.

***

**

Lando smiles at the girls who crowd around him, all seven pairs of eyes tracking his every move. He hands the card to Jessica D. with a ludicrous bow, making everyone present laugh as his cape twitches out behind him, and Jessica reads the card with a smile, her eyes crinkling in the corners.

“... _ Rey _ .” 

Rey’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise, but it’s more for the cameras’ sake -- Poe had warned her she’d probably be picked for this week’s one-on-one, here in New York City.

“ _ This prince is looking for his princess _

_ -Ben. _ ”

 

Most of the girls  _ ooo  _ and  _ aaah,  _ but others -- Jessica Q. namely -- look upset that Rey’s gotten the one-on-one. She doesn’t care though, and she’s happy to get out of the hotel and see a city she’s only ever seen in TV shows and movies.

That is, until Poe pulls her aside into an empty room, wearing a worried frown. 

It’s a cute frown, distractingly so, one that makes a little crease appear between his thick eyebrows, and Rey’s seized by the urge to smooth it out with her finger. She almost misses what he has to say, she’s so distracted by that little line.

“Hux needs you to kiss Ben.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Rey asks as politely as she can.

“He saw last week that you pulled away from him, and,” Poe shifts and looks like this causes him actual physical pain to say, “He thinks that Ben needs more from you, if he’s going to keep you around.”

“Oh.” Rey nods, and it’s like she’s listening to Poe from hundreds of feet away. “...I see.”

“I know it’s stupid.” Poe looks like he thinks it’s a bit more than stupid; he looks utterly vexed, and Rey realizes he’s picking up on her own distress. Her eyes are full of tears, after all, a mortifying detail that certainly hasn’t escaped Poe’s notice. “And I’m sorry to have to tell you that, but Hux...you know how Hux is.”

“It’s just,” Rey doesn’t finish the thought.

“Just what?” Poe prods, and there’s no camera around, so Rey grits her teeth and stares at her hands. 

“I’ve never kissed anyone before,” she admits. 

It’s not like she’s been waiting around for some fairy tale to happen; Rey’s just been focused on surviving the last twenty-odd years to be kissing random people like it would matter in the slightest to her survival. 

“I--” Poe starts to say, or at least, she thinks he does. It’s more than a touch strangled, and it could also be “ _ Agh _ -”

“I don’t care that it won’t be...for real, or whatever,” she hastens to explain. “I’m just worried about looking silly or embarrassing myself.”

“You won’t look silly,” Poe assures her, his face beet red. “You won’t.”

_ The camera will be more focused on Ben,  _ she rationalizes when Poe stops talking well before he usually would.  _ He’s the fantasy, and I’m the one living it. Viewers don’t want to see me, really, just know that they could step into my shoes and live out the kiss, and --  _

A goofy idea strikes her, and she’s seized by the need to see it through.

“I know!” She grins at Poe and shoves his arm. “You could teach me.”

“I could--” Poe really does sound strangled this time. “You want me to--uhm. Okay.” He nods, still beet red, anxious and rubbing his neck. “Sure. I can help.”

Rey stares at him in shock. She’d been kidding, but Poe looks like he thought she was being serious. 

“You don’t have to,” she says doubtfully, but her mind’s still whirring, and honestly…

Poe’s handsome. He’s kind. He makes her laugh. He’s here for her. And there’s not a camera in sight.

This is already better than what she anticipates on the date, so if she  _ has  _ to have her first kiss earlier than she anticipated, she could do a lot worse than the sweet guy who spends almost all his waking hours with her. 

Something in her stomach swoops at the idea of his mouth on hers, that full, pretty mouth she stares at when she shouldn’t, and Rey blushes. It’s okay though because Poe’s blushing too, and now they just match.

“Uhm.” Poe clears his throat with a nod. “So how do you wanna--”

Rey steps forward, and Poe grabs her waist a little awkwardly, like they’re middle schoolers at a sixth grade dance, and they both laugh. The swooping in her stomach doesn’t go away, not when she takes a deep breath and looks up at him through lowered lashes to realize that Poe’s eyes have been on her this whole time, his lips parted, his eyes darker than she remembers. She feels awkward and shy and wrong-footed, but Poe smiles sweetly at her.

“Do you still want to?” His grip loosens on her waist, and he starts to take a step back. “It’s - it’s totally fine if you don’t--”

Rey shakes her head and leans in, determined now to see this through, to know what kissing is really like so she’s not caught off guard on national television, and Poe nods like he’s getting ready for battle before leaning in to meet her.

His lips are soft, the stubble around his mouth and chin scratching her in a way that makes her nose wrinkle as she tries not to laugh; Poe’s hands are firm on her waist, but not tight, holding her close to him, and she can suddenly feel how solid and warm his body is. He isn’t much taller than her, but all that means is it’s easier to angle her head until something hot and  _ good  _ slides into place in her stomach.

Poe’s also...very good at kissing. He slides his lips over hers with ease, going slow, but making a pleasant route that Rey tries to mimic; if the way his fingers flex on her waist are any indication, he approves, and she smiles in victory. He licks her lip in response to her smile, a hum rising in his throat, and suddenly Rey feels the need to put her hands on his chest, and things get a little...tricky after that.

Tricky because she has to scream at herself  _ this isn’t real! This isn’t real! He’s just doing you a favor _ ! And none of her is really inclined to listen to that tiny voice of reason, not when Poe’s tongue is running along her lip, and hers is slipping out to tease his right back, making him honestly growl (a sound that sets her blood on fire) and push into the kiss more. Their lips slide over each other less gently than they had at the beginning, and one of Poe’s hands migrates to her back, making her feel safe and small and cherished in a way she never has.

There’s no way to tell how long they’ve been kissing, but from somewhere down the hall, Rosa shouts Rey’s name, and they both stiffen.

“-- _ C’mon, we have to get you dressed! If I have to stay in tonight, I at least get to do your makeup! _ ”

Rey leans away from Poe, and suddenly his hands are off her waist, the air around her feeling much cooler now that he’s far away. When she dares to peek at him, she sees him smoothing his curly hair out over and over again --  _ I didn’t get to touch his hair,  _ she thinks with regret,  _ but maybe next time,  _ and she almost chokes at the  _ next time  _ that slips unbidden in her mind. 

There won’t be a next time. 

This wasn’t real. Poe was doing her a favor. He doesn’t actually want to kiss her.

And she shouldn’t want to kiss him.

_ So why does she?  _

“Good luck tonight,” Poe mumbles, his face still bright red. He doesn’t look her in the face, and she realizes she probably embarrassed herself, probably jumped on him a little too much, made it weird, and she squeaks in response. 

When she turns to leave, Poe calls out after her.

“And Sunshine? For what it’s worth … you definitely aren’t going to embarrass yourself.”

Rey looks over her shoulder at him and smiles, genuinely smiles, before she walks away, ignoring the very real feeling of regret in her stomach.

***

**

“Camera 2, get your shit together and stop focusing on the flowers.” Hux shakes his head with a scoff. “It’s amateur hour, honestly.”

They’re in a van, following the carriage that Rey and Ben are on, winding through the cleared streets of New York City. It had been a logistical nightmare to block off just a few blocks of traffic, but they’d managed it, and now it’s snowing pleasantly outside, making the nighttime horse-drawn carriage ride that much more magical.

Poe fucking hates it.

He hates it because now he knows what Rey Smith tastes like, and it’s all he can think about; he knows how her lips feel against his, and he should have said no, should have told her it was a bad idea because  _ it was an awful idea,  _ but he couldn’t say no to her, not when kissing her seemed like the only thing that he could possibly do. 

Now, he’s crammed in a van with two other P.A’s and Hux, following Rey on her date with someone else, and he has to watch as Ben leans down and kisses Rey passionately in front of the cameras, his gloved hand cradling her jaw. 

_ Don’t vomit in front of Hux,  _ he thinks weakly.

Ben shoves the camera out of their faces playfully and laughingly says, “Let’s keep this PG!” 

The van erupts in cheers as the footage cuts out, and Poe resists the urge to throw his clipboard at the computer, but only just.

**

“Sorry about that,” Ben mutters, sitting up straight and smiling at her oddly. 

“Sorry about what?” Rey asks mildly. 

It’s funny; with Poe, she hadn’t been able to stop blushing for almost thirty minutes after their kiss; Rosa had asked her if she was having an allergic reaction to something, it was so bad. Rey also hadn’t been able to stop smiling.

Now, she isn’t smiling, and she isn’t blushing. She doesn’t feel grossed out, but she also doesn’t feel much of anything at all. The cameras aren’t zooming in on their faces again, at least, so there’s that.

Ben smiles at her though and shakes his head. “I wouldn’t have wanted our first kiss to have been like that, is all. Not very normal, is it?”

“I guess not,” Rey agrees, wrinkling her nose. “I wouldn’t know though. I don’t have much of a frame of reference.”

Well, there it goes. Now she’s blushing. 

Ben squints at her, and Rey swears she can  _ hear  _ the camera focusing in on her.

“What does that mean?”

“I - uh--” Rey looks down at her gloved hands until Ben leans over to take one; right, they’re still being recorded.

Poe’s probably watching this.

She doesn’t know why that bothers her so much, but it really bothers her. Hell, all of America will be seeing this soon enough. Rey sighs genuinely. 

“I’d never kissed anyone before I came on this show.”

Not a lie, technically. She doesn’t mention that her first kiss had happened six hours ago.

Ben doesn’t catch the lie because why would he, and he squeezes her hand with a strange look of pride on his face. 

“I’m honored,” he rumbles in that deep voice of his, and Rey nods, trying to force a smile, and she hopes that nobody in the audience will be able to see that she’s just barely started to cry. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another countdown to May the Fourth update! This was a very popular request (.....oops?)
> 
>  
> 
> PS I had this chapter written back in November and it just sort of got away from me to clean it up/punish it -- hilariously, when I said "Ben didn't even want to wait for the end of the season" because he knew Rey was the one, that was before all that shit went down with Colton, so...
> 
> Big Yikes.


End file.
